The Marlow Ferry is no longer in existence but at one time it was used to cross Fish River. Andrew Jackson camped at Marlow Ferry in 1815 before moving westward to defend New Orleans. And Union troops stayed there briefly before linking up to...

In the days before the construction of the Cochrane Bridge, the bayboat Bay Queen was among many that plied the waters between Mobile, Alabama, and the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, taking shoppers and goods back and forth. This image was taken...

The interior of Woolworth's Five and Dime Store at 163 Dauphin Street, showing the "white" lunch counter. This image was taken right before school started back. You can see boxes of Crayola Crayons. The store sold zipper binders for $1.98. You...

Before the Cochrane Bridge was opened in the late 1920s, the only way across the Mobile River was by bayboat. This image shows a Hammel's Department Store delivery truck crossing the bridge on the very first day, June 4, 1927. The sign on the truck...

Louis Augustus Herpin was sixteen years old when he joined the Confederate army. He was the last survivor of the Battle of Mobile Bay, living into his nineties. Herpin is shown here ca. 1930, shortly before his death.

Newspaper article describing the lynching of black carpenter Richard Robertson, who was first shot several times before being hung from this tree near Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Mobile, Alabama, in January 1909. The white "X" seen in the...

John Powers was sheriff of Mobile County from 1900 to 1906. Before that he was clerk of the city court. He was also a member of the Can't Get Away Club. Organized in the 1830s, the club was made up of local men who stayed in the city during yellow...

The Empire Theater on Dauphin Street, Mobile, Alabama. At the time this photo was taken, the theater was showing the film She Loves and Lies, starring Norma Talmadge, a comedy about an heiress with multiple personalities. Patrons paid twenty-five...

Dauphin Street at Claiborne, looking east, showing the cross atop the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and several other downtown shops. By the time this image was taken in the 1970s, Mobile's downtown was virtually deserted. It would be...

Joseph Stillwell Cain, a local city clerk, revived Mardi Gras in Mobile after the Civil War, for which Mobilians annually celebrate his memory by dedicating the Sunday before Fat Tuesday as Joe Cain Day. Here the Excelsior Band, itself a Mardi Gras...

In 1919, these descendants of the people who established the Creole Fire Department celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. Before 1888, when the city created a professional fire department, independent companies were established by local...

Before the annual Floral Parade became a regular part of the Mardi Gras celebrations, decorating a car with flowers was a popular way for Mobilians to take part in the festivities. This one dates to c. 1910.

The south side of Dauphin Street, between Conception and Joachim, ca. 1930. Samuel Keller's clothing store and Emile Herpin's jewelry store were on the block, as was the Buster Brown shoe store and Alabama Power's electric store. Someone with the...

A flapper checks for traffic before crossing the street in front of Smith's Bakery, located at the northwest corner of Dauphin and Hallet, in the late 1920s. In the foreground is rubble from streetcar track repairs.

The many waterways in and around Mobile have always provided its people with recreational activities. Boating was a relaxing way to beat the southern heat, especially in the days before the wide-spread use of central air conditioning.